1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to reinforcing members suitable for use as mine roof bolts, mine side bolts or in concrete reinforcing.
2. Prior Art
In mines it has been the practice to utilize mine roof bolts as an aid in holding the tunnel roof in place. The bolts are used on the sidewalls of mining tunnels.
At one time these bolts comprised steel rods with expandable fittings on the end which were inserted into drilled holes in the roof of the tunnels where the fittings expanded to hold the rod in place as it was used to bolt a plate to the roof of the tunnel. These bolts suffered from the disadvantage that the anchoring in the holes was not secure. Further the bolts were not as effective as desirable and very subject to corrosion by seepage of water.
More recently the use of steel rods which are inserted into resin bags have come into use. In this system a tubular bag containing separate bags of a polyester resin in paste form and a curing agent for the polyester are inserted into a hole drilled into the roof of the mine and then the steel rod is shoved through the tube breaking the bag and allowing the material to cure. The end of the rod extending from the roof is threaded and a plate is bolted to the end of the rod and held against the mine roof or sidewall. This system offers some advantages and is more effective than previous systems but it also suffers disadvantages in that the bolt, while somewhat protected from water seepage is not totally protected from such corrosion which both weakens the bolt and decreases its holding power. Further the steel rod and plate are heavy limiting the number that can be transported and installed by each miner. Further the steel rods generally do not provide thorough mixing of the resin catalyst.
Therefore, there remains a need for a mine roof or sidewall bolt that would have greater holding power, not be subject to water corrosion and be lighter for easier installation.
There is also a need for a fastening device for utilization in reinforcing of concrete with filament reinforced resin bars. There is a need for end-caps for the filament reinforced resin bars which could be utilized to hold together forms for the concrete pouring or to hold together filament reinforced resin rod reinforcing structures in the proper shape prior to the pouring of the concrete.